4 Dustdevils honored, TAMIU to play at unbeaten MSU

By Zach Davis, Laredo Morning Times
| on November 2, 2017

Photo: Courtesy Of TAMIU Athletics, File

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TAMIU junior goalkeeper Carlos Herrera was one of four players honored by the Heartland Conference Thursday ahead of the Dustdevils' semifinal showdown at undefeated No. 3 Midwestern State Friday at 7 p.m. HeTAMIU junior goalkeeper Carlos Herrera was one of four players honored by the Heartland Conference Thursday ahead of the Dustdevils' semifinal showdown at undefeated No. 3 Midwestern State Friday at 7 p.m. He is third in the nation with a .867 save percentage and seventh with a .539 goals against average.

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times

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TAMIU senior Alan Rivera was named second-team All-Heartland Conference Thursday. He leads the roster and is seventh in the conference with eight goals this season.

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times File

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TAMIU junior Rafael Montabes earned All-Heartland Conference third-team honors for the Dustdevils in 2017. He is first in the conference and is 21
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in the country in shots per game at 4.06.

The Dustdevils soccer team began the Heartland Conference Tournament Tuesday advancing after a battle with Texas of the Permian Basin that couldn’t have been any closer. Now Texas A&M International sets its sights on beating a team no one has been able to all season.

TAMIU heads out to Wichita Falls on Friday as it takes on undefeated Midwestern State in the Heartland Conference semifinals at 7 p.m. The Mustangs enter the game not only as the top seed in the league but also the No. 3-ranked school in the country.

Before the four conference foes battle it out this weekend, the league announced its 2017 award winners on Thursday. The Dustdevils had the fourth-most players on the list among the 12 teams as junior goalkeeper Carlos Herrera led the way earning first-team honors. The San Leandro, California native ranks third in the nation with a .867 save percentage and seventh with a .539 goals against average. He is the first goalkeeper since Emmanuel Frias in 2011 to be a first-team selection.

Also representing TAMIU on the squad were senior forward Alan Rivera on the second team and junior midfielder Rafael Montabes and sophomore Luis Diaz on the third team. Rivera leads the roster and is seventh in the conference with eight goals this season. Montabes is first in the conference and is 21st in the country in shots per game at 4.06, although he has only one score in 2017. Diaz has played 1,402 minutes — the third-most on the team — and has six shots. He’s one of the biggest reasons along with Herrera that the defense has eight shutouts this year.

This year’s Heartland Conference semifinals and championship game will be hosted by Midwestern State after winning the league’s regular-season title going 16-0-2 including 12-0-2 in conference play. The group has won five straight after a stretch of two out of three games playing to 1-1 draws. Prior to that, the Mustangs opened the season winning 10 in a row.

Although the Mustangs have a very talented core, the Dustdevils (10-4-3, 9-4-1 Heartland) are coming into the game looking for the upset playing their best soccer of the year. TAMIU has won five straight and is 8-3 in its last 11 games including a 2-1 win over No. 14 St. Edward’s.

Of the three losses in that time frame — all to postseason teams — the Dustdevils have already avenged two of them in their past two outings. They responded from a 2-0 loss at sixth-seeded St. Mary’s on Oct. 7 by winning 2-0 in the regular-season finale on Oct. 28 at home. And after a 2-0 defeat at Texas of the Permian Basin on Oct. 14, the roster again came up big on Tuesday in the Heartland Conference Quarterfinals winning on penalty kicks against UTPB. The teams played to a scoreless draw after two overtimes, and TAMIU made five penalty kicks compared to the Falcons’ four to advance to the semifinals.

Now the Dustdevils will have their sights set on getting some revenge from that third loss as they play at Midwestern State on Friday. In their first meeting on Sept. 28, MSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 12 minutes including a penalty kick goal only 94 seconds into the game. But TAMIU played strong the rest of the way and even finished the game with a 16-14 edge in shots as its rally came up short losing 2-1.

There was also some chippiness between the two schools after the final whistle. Head coach Claudio Arias and members of the Dustdevils took exception to some players on the Mustangs taunting the team after the win, especially considering Midwestern State’s bus actually got stuck in mud on the way to the game leading to Arias, the coaching staff and TAMIU athletic director Griz Zimmermann all heading out to pick up the team to bring them to the game. The match started 20 minutes later than originally scheduled because of the travel issue.

The Dustdevils were also without starting forward Elias Perales on the day, who received two yellow cards the prior outing. The sophomore from United South has carved a fairly important role in the starting lineup in 2017, starting 15 of the 16 games he’s played in while ranking third on the team in goals (2) and fourth in points (5) and assists (1). He is also fifth in shots (19) and shots on goal (12).

Friday’s match will be another showdown of two of the most talented defenses in the country. Midwestern State ranks third in the nation allowing eight goals in 2017 and fourth with a .431 goals against average. Meanwhile, the Dustdevils are 13th in goals against average (.673) and 15th in goals allowed (12).

In the other semifinal game, second-seeded St. Edward’s (14-3-1, 11-2-1) is coming off its first-round bye ready to take on surprising No. 6 seed St. Mary’s (10-8-1, 7-7), which stunned No. 3 seed West Texas A&M on its home field 2-0 Tuesday to advance. Along with TAMIU, the upset put three South division teams in the final four.

There was some question as to whether TAMIU would instead be facing St. Edward’s Friday after the upset by St. Mary’s so that top-seeded Midwestern would play the lowest advancing seed. But the Heartland Conference said after the game on Twitter that it does not reseed, leaving the No. 2 and 6 teams to kick off play at 4:30 p.m. Friday before the No. 1 and 4 squads do battle at 7. The winners meet Sunday at 1 for the championship.

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